Dubbed and Dangerous 3 (2004)

Aberdeen, Scotland resident Ara Paiaya wraps up his Dubbed and Dangerous trilogy in style with a feature-length film offering what has become his trademark combination of slapstick comedy and Hong Kong-style stunt work set to parodies of popular Hong Kong and Hollywood action and comedy films. D&D 3 cranks up the scale of his self-produced series by including more special effects, more elaborate action set pieces, and cameos from Freddy vs. Jason star Robert Englund and Circus Kids star and martial arts film guru Bey Logan.

Most of the cast from D&D 2 return to play the same characters with Ara sticking to the basic plot of a bungling spy modeled after Jackie Chan and Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther films trying to stop the bad guys. This time, gangster Big Al (Alex Clark) has been released from prison and reassembles his gang with a simple plan of taking over the world and getting rid of Ara in the process.

The story may not be all that inspiring or original and again, the acting and editing lacks professional polish. But Ara has definitely found a groove, that for the most part works. Parodies make up a big part of the film and it won’t be hard to pick out references to Shaolin Soccer, Austin Powers, Revenge of the Pink Panther, The Matrix, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, and Game of Death. Some computer wizardry is used to have a soccer ball bowl over several thugs. But no CGI is employed in an incredible follow up where Ara jump-kicks all of them in a single move, Hwang Jang-lee style. Peter Sellers fans should appreciate the ninja bomb delivery, Ara’s fat man suit, and Big Al’s slow-motion flying kick where he emits a guttural yowl. Waikee Shek plays one of Big Al’s thugs and is not only given a Dr. Evil voice, but a Mini Shek with a Mohawk hairdo. Thankfully, the Matrix gags are kept to a minimum. But Ara goes all out on Bruce Lee references. He steals a memorable line about guns from Enter the Dragon and then proceeds to get into Lee’s yellow track suit from Game of Death for the finale where he takes on a small kung fu school and Big Al himself. I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, Bruce Lee parodies have been done to death, but on the other hand if they’re done well they can still be entertaining. Ara succeeds by managing to pull off a few of Lee’s trademark moves while keeping the mood light.

Two of Ara’s best action scenes involve vehicles. In one, he weaves a midget motorcycle through traffic as pyrotechnic explosions are set off behind him. The next is at a junkyard and it is probably the best scene in the film. Ara takes on Big Al’s goons in a series of moves set around a couple of cars. Multiple windows are shattered in the process and Ara ends up tossed in a car that is promptly crushed by a massive forklift and dropped from several feet. This entire scene alone is better than a lot of lesser action movies.

All throughout, Ara maintains quality fight choreography despite the fact that most of his costars have no formal martial arts are stunt training. The key appears to be that he gets good reactions from them and a little choice editing here and there helps. His fight with a female assassin who uses her hair as a weapon is amusing. Bey Logan, a student of Hung Gar, drops in for a wee bit of sparring and comedy hijinks. Genre fans may also notice that Ara gives props to leading UK action film magazines Impact and Vengeance. Vengeance editor Dean Meadows even makes a brief appearance.

Considering that Ara, who at the time had little professional film experience, yet wrote, produced, directed, choreographed, starred in, and edited D&D 3, it’s pretty amazing to see how well the film comes together. With this in mind he should be excused for the film’s faults, but they need to be mentioned nevertheless. Continuity and scene transition are problems in the film. At times, scenes appear disconnected or receive no setup which gives portions of the film a feel of being a series of highlights rather than a continuous story. It’s a minor gripe, but one scene where a setup or transitional shot on a boat is established then lingers for too long and spoils some of the editing magic Ara used to make it appear he was piloting a large junk.

Dubbed and Dangerous 3 is really a spectacular independent film. It has all of the entertainment value of a Hollywood or Hong Kong blockbuster, just on a smaller scale. Ara’s self-effacing slapstick comedy merges well with his ability to create dynamic action scenes with impact. It’s a combination that few filmmakers could produce today or would even be willing to attempt.